


pagtingin (regard)

by crimsonrosepetals



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Freeform, I took some things and ran with them, Inspired by Music, M/M, Pre-Slash, Shameless Projection, So canon divergence?, Yams is Filipino in this one
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-09
Updated: 2020-08-09
Packaged: 2021-03-05 19:19:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 724
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25800472
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/crimsonrosepetals/pseuds/crimsonrosepetals
Summary: Tsukki and Tadashi share earbuds on the way home from a practice match.
Relationships: pre-slash Tsukishima Kei/Yamaguchi Tadashi
Comments: 2
Kudos: 52





	pagtingin (regard)

**Author's Note:**

> I own nothing and no one.
> 
> I was listening to a song (called Pagtingin; by Ben&Ben, which is a wonderful song full of feelings) and this happened, and there is so much projecting; my apologies.

Yamaguchi being half-Filipino doesn't come up all that often.

Maybe sometimes there will be a dish at dinner that Yamaguchi-san explains is a staple back in the Philippines; something every Filipino worth his or her stock knows how to cook. Whenever this happens, whatever is served is usually pretty good, Kei thinks. 

And every now and then on a really bad day when the pinch server messes up his proper serves - it's what he works on now: getting them up to the level of his float serves, but on the side of aim and power - he lets out this two-syllable word under his breath that the middle blocker is pretty sure is a curse.

And increasingly, lately, Tsukishima catches faint strains of songs that must be in the Filipino language from the brunet's mp3 player - on the bus on their way to or from matches, or when they study together after school.

Tadashi had told him when they were much younger, and still getting to know each other, that he doesn't have the best grasp of speaking in his native tongue; what with his family having moved to Japan when he was five; but that because his tri-lingual mother and father - the great grandson of a Japanese soldier that had stayed in the country after the war and married a teacher - still use it often at home, he could actually understand when it was spoken by someone else.

It piques his curiosity. Enough that one day, he actually asks about it.

On the way back to school from having won a practice match with Seijoh, seated side by side, Tsukki asks to borrow one of Yamaguchi's earbuds so they can listen to one of those Filipino songs he likes together. The other boy is curious, but obliges; handing the blond the right bud, then switching the side of the other bud from his left ear to the right to lessen the pull on the chords.

The song he picks is somewhat soulful, but laid-back. Tsukishima doesn't understand a single word, but something in the singers' voices makes him think that he can recognize the deep undercurrent of feeling. He doesn't return in the earbud after the song finishes. Tadashi lowers the volume as a new song - this time in Japanese - is cued up.

"It's called 'Pagtingin'," Yamaguchi offers, fumbling in saying the title properly, and Kei immediately thinks that it's really cute; just like he did back when they were younger, and he insisted that Tadashi translate some phrases into Filipino. "It's by this band called Ben&Ben. It's my favorite of theirs."

"It sounds nice. What's it about?"

"The song talks about...the singer, or someone secretly having feelings for someone else - maybe someone they know well, and have a good relationship with, like a friend I guess - that they're still afraid to completely let out and admit. But they're asking the other person that when they do come clean and confess...not to change how they regard them."

Tsukishima ponders this for a while. Then, "Why wouldn't you want the other person to think of you differently? What if they like you back?"

Yamaguchi grins at this. "Well, that would be the best, wouldn't it? If the person you like likes you back. But, I guess, if they don't, then the best outcome would be for them to keep thinking of the other person as their friend, and not changing their opinion of them just because they confessed their feelings. But yeah; a reciprocated, mutual liking would be what one would usually hope for."

Kei makes a small, quiet sound of agreement. "Why is it your favorite?"

A slight pink tinges Yamaguchi's freckles, but he doesn't look away, steadily meeting Kei's golden-brown eyes with his hazel-gray ones. "Ah. Well. I'll tell you another time, Tsukki. Okay?"

Something shifts in the air surrounding them. It's been happening a lot, lately; most of the time when it's just the two of them hanging out. But it doesn't seem like something Tadashi wants to address yet.

Not that it's something Kei is in any rush to talk about either. So he just says "Yeah. I'll be waiting."

Tadashi smiles at him, bright and beautiful; and they share earbuds and Yamaguchi's mp3 music on shuffle mode, their shoulders pressed together, the rest of the way home.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! :)
> 
> Stay safe and well, everyone!


End file.
